Oddworld The Tales of Trick
by TJtheValiant
Summary: Trick, a young Neuri cat girl, has for as long as she can remember been held a prisoner at Vykkers Labs, tortured and experimented on by the scientists. After its destruction at the hands of Abe and Munch Trick; along with a blank Fuzzle named Chomper, escapes and is soon discovered & befriended by the bounty hunter Stranger.
1. Chapter 1

For as long as Specimen 66 could recall there had only been the injections, the shocks, and the dark, damp cell that had been her home in Vykkers Labs. The passage of time was as alien to 66 as the desert was to a Gabbit; only the high-pitched mutterings of the lab-coated tormentors indicated when it was morning or night. Today, however, was different.

From the confines of her prison an unfamiliar sound awoke Specimen 66 from her restless slumber. Abruptly, she was thrown to the floor as the whole ship began to shake. An inky blackness enveloped her as she struggled to get back to her feet. As her eyes began to adjust to the dark, 66 saw that the electric field around the bars of her cell had been deactivated. Tentatively, she reached out to see if her eyes were deceiving her. To her amazement, there was no pain.

This was her chance!

Specimen 66 knew not what kind of world lay outside these bars, but she was certain it couldn't be worse than the hell she endured here. Summoning all her strength, 66 pulled against the steel bars. She could feel them beginning to break; and with one last jerk of her furry arms they fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Not wanting to wait around, she darted out of the cell block keeping to the shadows as best she could. Specimen 66 knew the general layout of the lab; she'd been taken through many of its metallic gray corridors strapped to a gurney. When she came to one of the labs, 66 found several of the Vykker scientists lying in a pool of their green blood as a lone black Fuzzle tried vainly to chew away the bindings that held him down.

Specimen 66 knew this furry little puffball; he was one of the "unique" specimens—like 66. All the other Fuzzles had brown fur; his was jet black with little flecks of white. She had befriended the little guy when they both were undergoing "procedures." This time the Fuzzle had managed to break free and had gone on a rampage. As soon as the Fuzzle noticed 66, it reared up to attack her. She stood her ground and stared down the tiny terror. In that moment when their eyes met, 66 felt a strange sensation come over her. She was sure a bond had formed between herself and the Fuzzle; which she named Chomper.

Chomper was the only living thing in this hellhole that didn't inflict pain or belittlement- a flicker of warmth and care that would otherwise have been unknown to her. When Chomper saw his two-legged friend he squeaked happily.

"_Stubble friend! You came for me_!"

Specimen 66 supposed being called "Stubble friend" wasn't as bad as having a number for a name; still, she wished he didn't call her that.

Extending four needle-like claws 66 cut through Chomper's restraints with a single swipe.

As the two were about to leave, 66 noticed a knapsack sitting on of the tables, though she didn't have time to rummage through it's contents. She still felt it could come in handy and quickly stowed Chomper safely inside it to make certain they didn't get separated. It seemed as if there was still power in some parts of the ship; for instance, 66 could hear the siren bells again, as well as the terror filled screams of Vykkers and Sligs.

The smell of smoke and oil filled 66's nostrils, as she turned down another hallway the walls behind her exploded in a fiery blast, spraying shards of metal like a shotgun. One of these projectiles struck 66 in the shoulder and another got her in the leg.

Still she fought through the pain, refusing to let her one chance of freedom be lost to a few cuts.

Specimen 66 could see the entrance to the boarding docks. Surely there would still be a few escape pods left, so focused was she on reaching the docking bay door 66 failed to notice the Vykker also trying to escape the free falling fortress. When the lab coat wearing spider saw that one of their specimen's attempting to escape he pulled out his dart gun, but when 66 heard the weapon being cocked she leaped to the side letting the incapacitating serum filled syringe fly straight past her.

"Tricky little beast!" The Vykker cursed.

Before he could even think about reloading his weapon 66 charged at the quack, slashing the gun to pieces with her dagger-like claws and knocking her stunned opponent on his back with a swift leg sweep. A part of 66 wanted to finish off the disgusting spider, make it suffer for what he and his Vykker cohorts had put her through… but no, she was too close to freedom to risk it on petty revenge.

Specimen 66 made it into the docking area; the fires and smoke had choked the air, making it difficult for her to see. They were all but deserted, and for a moment 66 feared being trapped and killed on this flying torture ship. Then she saw it—a lone escape pod sitting precariously on the edge of torn dock. She ran full kilter to the pod, pouring every ounce of strength she had towards her only hope of salvation. Specimen 66 leapt onto the ship, landing squarely into the cockpit.

That's when she felt it—the sting of a syringe jabbing straight into her left shoulder. She turned to see a Slig charging at her. Yet it soon became apparent that it wasn't herself the tentacle-faced thug was after—it was the ship. What a nasty surprise it was for him when Chomper leapt from the knapsack, clamping hard on the Slig guard's hand. The Slig howled in pain, dropping his weapon while he frantically tried to remove the fuzzy beast from his hand.

Specimen 66 was already starting to feel the effects of the drug; but fearing for her little friend's safety, she fought through the dizziness and backhanded the distracted Slig, knocking him against the railing. Unable to regain his balance, the Slig began to topple over the edge. Thankfully, Chomper released his scissors grip and jumped into 66's waiting arms as the Slig disappeared over the side. The fortress shook mightily. Specimen 66 was knocked back into the escape pod. The ground was coming up fast, and 66 had no idea how to start the engine.

By pure luck she pressed the right button and the vehicle lurched to life, switching and speed away from the doomed vessel. As the lonely craft flew over the beach and into the forest, 66 could no longer remain conscious. Her last coherent thought was "_Free… I'm free_." Then there was only darkness.


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting a Stranger

Chapter 2 Meeting a Stranger

Stranger lay back against his blanket gazing up at the clear night sky. No matter how many times he looked, there was always something awe inspiring about it, the stars shone with the same splendor as diamonds; sometimes forming pictures in the like a sword or sea serpent. Stranger's favorites were shooting stars, a long time ago he once heard a storyteller claim that they were the souls of the departed descending from the heavens to be reincarnated into a new life.

He had never believed in such mystic mumbo jumbo before, but after what happened with the demon Sekto at Raider's hideout Stranger was willing to except that there were something's in this world that defied the laws of nature. The Grubs had asked him to stay and become their leader, but after years of moving from one place to another Stranger found it difficult to stay in one for place for too long. Though he did make a habit of stopping by every couple of weeks to make sure they were okay.

He had returned to his bounty-hunting persona, though Stranger's identity was accepted amongst the Grubs the Steef was wary of flaunting his racial features to outsiders who might still held negative annotations against his species.

Still, the bad things paled to the joy Stranger felt sitting amongst the towering pines, and the vast mountains that gave off a bluish hue in the moonlight.

The weary Steef was just about to lay his head down and call it a night; his acute hearing caught a strange humming noise off in the distance. It sounded unnatural-manmade.

With lightning speed Stranger scurried up one of the tallest pine trees to survey the area. At first he saw nothing, but then as his gaze turned eastward Stranger spotted in the distance a small sphere shaped craft gliding slowly across the night sky.

It seemed to be struggling to remain afloat as it just barley hovering over the treetops. As the ship drew nearer Stranger could see tears and holes in the ship's hull; whatever it had come from it didn't escape unscathed.

The engine seemed to have finally given out as the pod fell, quickly disappearing into the tree line.

Stranger knew not whether whoever was inside the vessel was still alive or not he couldn't ignore what was happening. It was true that Stranger disapproved of the machinations that had ravaged the lands of Oddworld, but he couldn't just turn his back on someone he could help- not like before.

It wasn't difficult to find where it crashed as smoke funneled into the sky like a signal fire.

Stranger loaded his crossbow with a Boombat, he had made up his mind to help; but that didn't mean the Steef was going in unprepared for a fight if the ship's pilot proved to be of an unsavory nature.

It took roughly ten minutes for Stranger to reach the crash site, he could make out the skid marks in the dirt where the ship initially crashed narrowly avoiding any of the trees before coming to stop in the gorge below.

Smoke still billowed out of the now dead thrusters as Stranger cautiously came up beside it. Tentatively he touched the hull, it was warm, but not so much that it would burn the skin.

As he circled the derelict craft Stranger came up to the bow the darkened glass made it difficult to see who was inside and if they were still among the living.

Taking a chance the bounty hunter pressed his face against the glass, it didn't take Stranger long to make out the crumpled form of a lone female; her face pressed against the console and unmoving.

He had get whoever was in there out; the ship could still go up in flames any second, Stranger scrambled to find a release button but couldn't make out anything under the charred dirt covered vessel.

Deciding to go for the direct approach Stranger cocked his bow & with the Boombat shot through it opening up a hole big enough for him to climb through.

He quickly checked the unconscious girl's pulse; she was alive, but from the many cuts and contusions that dyed her silver fur red.

As Stranger turned her over he was bewildered by what he saw.

Her features somewhat resembled a Steef, the nose was smaller and eye were more oval shaped. The most prominent trait she possessed was a short silver horn protruding from her forehead.

Stranger had encountered many different people & races in his life, but never had he seen anyone like her before.

"Uh-ugh." A faint moan brought Stranger back to the situation at hand.

At first he though of carrying her over his shoulder, but then seeing the gaping wound in her left leg Stranger decided against it. The only option would be to carry her bridal style, but that would mean it'd be difficult to defend himself if the girl decided to attack. It was a chance Stranger had to take- he couldn't let a life be snuffed out if he could help it.

The mystery girl was surprising light in his arms; even with the knapsack that was still slung over her shoulder, and with a few strong jumps they were out of the ship and above the gorge just as the ship burst into flames.

"_That was cutting it a little to close there_." Stranger thought, chastising himself for taking such risks.

As he was about to make the trek back to his campsite the bounty hunter caught slight movement from the girl's knapsack. At first he thought it might just be a trick of the wind-but then after seeing the movements become grow stronger he knew that there had to be something inside the bag.

Gently placing the girl against a tree stump Stranger gingerly pulled out his knife while reaching to pull the open the knapsack.

Just as his hand were inches from lifting the strap a ball of black fur shot out of it teeth bared and growling menacingly at Stranger.

"What in tarnation?!" (I know it's corny but I couldn't come up with anything more creative) It looked like a Fuzzle, but the Steef had never seen one with black fur before.

At first Stranger thought it would simply scurry off into the woods, instead it placed itself in front of the unconscious girl seemingly intending to keep the bounty hunter from coming near her.

Stranger could see it would be a fruitless endeavor to try to force the creature away; seeing how it hadn't attacked him when it had the chance, the bounty hunter did not want to risk causing harm to the girl.

Instead Stranger sheathed his knife, kneeling down to try and make himself less intimidating to the agitated Fuzzle.

"Just take it easy there Fuzzle, I've no intention of harming your master. If I had I wouldn't have bothered pulling you out of that now smoldering scrape heap." The ash furred Fuzzle still seemed leery of the Steef- but at least it wasn't barring those nasty fangs as menacingly as before.

"I can treat her injuries at my campsite, but I'll need to carry her to get there." It seemed crazy to Stranger that he was conversing with an animal as if it could understand him. Yet it somehow seemed to be able to understand what he was communicating.

The Fuzzle seemed to be debating on wither or not to trust the Steef, but when Stranger offered to let the creature ride on his shoulder it finally relented.

Slowly the fuzzball climbed onto the bounty hunter's shoulder as he once again picked the girl up and headed back to his campsite that would now be housing three.


End file.
